Sketchup Models of Shop Furniture for a Small Shop #3: Bench Top Carving Bench

Edited 8/21/09: A couple of years ago I took an intro class on wood carving. The school had on hand some carving benches for the students to use but, naturally, I had to make my own design. Below is the design that I came up with. It was small enough for me to lug to class and large enough to handle most of the carving projects that I anticipate doing. It also allowed me the flexibility to accommodate various sizes of work and be able to reposition them without unscrewing and re-screwing braces. It can be clamped to a workbench for stability and a task light can be clamped to it. The dog (pup) holes are also handy for holding a few gouges at the ready without them rolling off the bench top.

My Sketchup model of the bench top carving bench.

My actual carving bench in use. I had not yet installed the drawer because In hadn’t settled on a final working height for the bench itself.

-- Best regards, Jack -- I may not be good, but I'm slow -- www.BarnhillWoodworks.com

9 comments so far

Nice to hear from you. I measure the drawer sides as 4 3/16” each. The front edges are chamfered which might account for measuring less than 4 3/16” but I’m not sure how the left side could be measured with an extra 3/16”.

Could you elaborate on how to better handle the materials on the carving bench?

As to the file size, how do you maintain detail while reducing the file size? On the Wonder Pup, I had considered just using cylinders without threads and without connecting pins or clips; which would have reduced the file size considerably but I like seeing the detail when start turning the model around and looking at it from every angle.

Unless I’m missing an important technique, file size vs. detail seems like a trade off depending on individual objectives. I’m not advocating large files, I just like details. I saw an SU model on line the other day that said it was a Harley-Davidson. I could tell it was supposed to be a motorcycle because of the two wheels but it was so crudely done and lacking in detail it could have been call any one of a number of different brands. The file size was small though.

Let me know if there is a way that I can keep the detail up while getting the file size down. This model set has relatively few elements to it. You can emagine the file size when I start populating my shop model with high-detail elements like these.

As always, thanks for your feed back.

-- Best regards, Jack -- I may not be good, but I'm slow -- www.BarnhillWoodworks.com

Nice Sketchup work jack. What render engine did you use for the last two images?Dave I have to disagree with you….I almost always have separate vertical and horizontal versions of the same texture. If I paint a texture on to several boards, then I need to rotate it on one of the boards all the textures rotate, so I make seperate vert. and hor. versions of the same texture. I always apply my textures to faces only not components….mostly due to my render engine of choice (Podium) would not recognize textures applied to groups or components, only faces…but in the last couple versions they have changed it so textures applied to groups/components will render. I have learned also that though Like Jack I love details…the more the better, but after painstakingly adding minute details then rendering them and seeing them disappear due to relative camera position, I now think things through better and only do details that will be seen. If I am doing details or close up scenes, then I would make a copy of the model and add the details but remove the other larger parts of the model that wont be seen in the detail shots.

It looks like that in the dim light of very early morning, I posted an older version pf the carving desk model. The drawer dimension are correct in my later version but, I will go through it to check the other areas that DaveR pointed out before reposting it. Thanks for bringing it to my attention Dave.

And, thanks to both Dave and David for the discussion on materials.

-- Best regards, Jack -- I may not be good, but I'm slow -- www.BarnhillWoodworks.com

The render engine that I am currently trying to get my mind around (and used on the two pictures referenced) is Kerkythea. It’s free, has more capabilities than I do and it seems to have a strong user community.

The renderings were done with a simple 3-light setup as you can probably tell from the shadows.

-- Best regards, Jack -- I may not be good, but I'm slow -- www.BarnhillWoodworks.com

Since I am fairly new to this, I have been in serious resource acquisition mode gathering materials and plugins wherever I can find them and haven’t done a very good job of keeping track of where I found them. The SketchUcation forum is a good place to start. DaveR probably has a better handle on his materials sources.

-- Best regards, Jack -- I may not be good, but I'm slow -- www.BarnhillWoodworks.com

Ok. I’ve replaced the Carving Bench model in the 3D Warehouse with a new, slimmed-down version. The new file is about half the size of the old one. I even made the drawer a dynamic component to slide out and in.

Thanks, DaveR for the nudge in the right direction. I got the file size down without loss of detail. I never thought of making the pup holes a component. I also figured out how to rotate the texture; which eliminated one.

When I get back to the computer next week after a short trip I will see about putting the Bench Pup and Wonder Pup on a diet as well.

Again, if you like this model, find it useful, or if it just means that you don’t have to spend the time to create your own model, please show your appreciation for my work by making a donation through PayPal to jabarnhi@pacbell.net. Thank you!

-- Best regards, Jack -- I may not be good, but I'm slow -- www.BarnhillWoodworks.com